Published: 10:31 AM, 30 August 2026
U-20 junior hockey team depart for China
Bangladesh U-20 junior hockey team left for China on Saturday to take part in the Junior Asia Cup Hockey Tournament, scheduled to be held from September 4 to 13 in Moqi, China.
Bangladesh have been grouped in Pool B alongside Malaysia, Pakistan, hosts China and Kazakhstan.
The team will begin their tournament against hosts China on September 4. They will play their second group match against Malaysia on September 6, followed by a match against Kazakhstan on September 8 before playing their final group match against Pakistan on September 9.
The U-20 team faced the Bangladesh national hockey team in their last warm-up match at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in the capital on Friday, just before entering the field for this mega tournament. In this highly competitive and high-scoring warm-up match, the junior team ultimately lost to the senior national team by a margin of 4-3 goals.
Players from both the senior and junior teams presented an excellent display of offensive hockey in the match. The dynamic hockey of the youth against the experience of the national team kept the match exciting until the last moment. Star player Ashraful played a key role in this victory of the national team, who took a magnificent hat-trick with his magical skills with the stick. Rocky scored the remaining 1 goal for the national team.
On the other hand, the U-20 team put up a great resistance in this tough conditioning match before facing the Asian superpowers. They were able to score 3 goals by breaking the strong defense of the seniors. Johnny, Tayyab and Ashraful Alam each scored a goal for the junior team. Despite losing, the coach believes that such a fighting performance against the country's best senior players will boost the confidence of the junior team before entering the main stage of the Junior Asia Cup.
The final match marked the end of the junior team's long preparation camp. The U-20 team is fully prepared to bring glory to the country by giving their best in the final tournament of the Asia Cup.
